I reached the Heart of The Library just as Darcy, and Lilly reached its opposite side. It was bad. What had once been a perfect sphere was now severely dented on one side.

  The Librarian soon caught up, stopping by my side, gazing at the destruction.

  “This shouldn’t be,” she said softly.

  Darcy moved forward, as if to touch it.

  “Don’t!” ordered Lilly.

  “I will be careful,” said the statue. After a few moments of survey, Darcy shook his head. “We are very lucky,” he said.

  “Lucky?” asked the Librarian.

  “Lucky to have Alex,” Darcy elaborated. “If she hadn’t removed so many of those abominations, the heart would have been destroyed. I have no doubt about that.”

  “But how did they get inside in the first place? That’s what I would like to know,” said the Librarian. “The Library exists outside of time and space. It is not the sort of inside that has an outside.”

  “But there is a crack,” I said, looking up to the place where I knew the damage remained.

  Mary came limping into the clearing. Her leg had swollen up now, and her skin had turned an ashen color, her veins dark. She cursed to herself when she saw the heart.

  “Damn things,” she said. “I could have taken them all on, if I hadn’t slipped.” Mary turned to me, her lip curling. “You did well, Keeper. Where exactly did you send the others? I have half a mind to go after them.”

  “You are injured,” said Darcy.

  “I have had worse, boy,” replied Mary.

  I glanced at the planetary atlas I was still clutching under one arm. “I sent them to another planet. I don’t know which reality. I’m fairly sure it is a long way off though.”

  “Fairly sure?” sneered Mary. “I’m fairly sure that we are all fudged.”

  Except she didn’t say fudge.

  I felt weak from the work of the morning, and weaker still from the fight that just unfolded. But there was no time to rest. “I need to get to the place where the ceiling is torn,” I said faintly.

  “You look like you need to lie down,” said Lilly.

  “There is no time,” I said. My knees threatened to fail me, and I clung to the Librarian’s arm to steady myself. “Will you take me?” I asked, looking up at her massive watery black eyes.

  “I will take you,” said Mary. “We cannot afford to waste time. The others may be back any moment.”

  But Mary didn’t look she was in much of a state to go anywhere either.

  “Here we go, child,” said the Librarian, hosting me up onto her shoulder. Steadying me with one arm, she waddled through the flattened shelves of books and vines, leaving the dreary sight behind us.

  I don’t think I remained conscious for long. When I came to, the Librarian was settling me down on an ash-covered floor.

  “Somewhere up there, I think,” she said. “Though you can never quite tell with this place.”

  “It’s up there,” I said, gazing up towards the shrouded distance. I smiled to the Librarian, weak as I was. “You better go. I am going to call the spirits.”

  The Librarian’s lips set into a line of silent disapproval. “Be careful around them,” she said. “I know I’m always saying, but it is important not to let your guard down.”

  “They won’t hurt me,” I said. “But I’ll be careful, as you say.”

  With the Librarian gone, I soon felt the presence of a thousand silent faces passively gazing my way.

  “We have some work to do,” I said to the nearest of the spirits. The spirit slowly gazed up toward the tear in the dimension.

  “That’s right,” I said.

  The spirit looked down again, meeting my gaze. Its face morphed from that creepy smiley emoji to a sad face.

  The blood in my veins turned to ice.

  “It wasn’t me,” I said. “We were under attack. I need you to heal up the rift before they come back.”

  Looking about, I could see that the other spirits had adopted the same look.

  “Please,” I said desperately.

  Then, one by one, the spirits took flight, spiraling towards the rift. Soon after, I felt my energy begin to drain, as the spirits did their work repairing the damage. It was all I could manage not to black out. I had never been so tired, so worn in all my life. But what choice did I have? If I gave in to oblivion, those Aeorankin could be back in moments, and there was no way we would be able to fend them off again. Not without Elaine.

  My mind drifted to the witch and the circumstances of her departure. It was distracting, and I forced myself to re-focus on the problems at hand. If only I wasn’t so tired. I just needed to stay awake long enough for the spirits to complete their work. That’s all that mattered.

  ***

  When I awoke, I was alone, sprawled in the ash, staring at the ceiling. My first thought was one of confusion, my second thought was one of panic.

  I sat upright, looking about for the spirits, but they were nowhere to be found. How much time had passed? It can’t have been long, or the others would have come looking for me, surely. I cast my senses up toward the rift in the ceiling and breathed a sigh of relief.

  The spirits had done what I feared was impossible. They had healed the damage in the metaphorical ceiling. It was still a weak point, I could tell that much, but perhaps it would heal further with time. For now, The Library’s protections had been re-established.

  I closed my eyes and fell once more into a dreamless slumber.

  ***

  I wasn’t much use to anyone for a few days after that. I had taxed my body and soul further than I ever had before. The refugee colony, however, was a buzz of excitement as more and more of their home worlds were found within the pages. Some groups were awaiting my recovery so that I could see them through. Without Elaine and her portals, it was back to the good old-fashioned library magic to take people into the books. Other groups had a lot to debate. In many cases, it was not possible for people to return to their world in exactly the same time-line. The readers did their best to find contemporary books, but for some worlds only historical stories or science fiction had been found. Some wanted to do all they could to get out of The Library, no matter what the destination. Others couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing their loved ones again. These people said that they would rather wait until the right book was found and stay in The Library in the meantime.

  For obvious reasons, it was the Librarian’s preference that people return to their own time, even their own books, if possible. This had come from a lifetime of trying to avoid such anomalies. Even now, with the multiverse in tatters, she still held closely to her ways. But the Librarian was anxious to get The Library back to herself again, so to speak. She liked people, she just didn’t like being around them, and certainly not so many of them.

  I spent much of my time resting up in a nook I found. It consisted of an over-sized circular daybed, beige and soft. It was partially covered over by a shelf of books containing some of the most ancient volumes I had ever seen. A flowering vine had taken hold here, and sprays of violet flowers erupted at intervals. Built within the nook was one of the Library’s portal windows. It looked out over a tranquil valley. I spent hours just watching the clouds roll on by as the light changed. I wondered what kinds of creatures lived by the distant river below.

  Lost in thought, I hardly noticed Lilly approach. I therefore got quite a fright when she landed heavily by my side.

  “I’m bored,” she proclaimed, stealing one of my pillows and laying with her hands behind her head.

  “Sheesh,” I said, recovering from the shock.

  “That too,” said Lilly. “I always thought the apocalypse would be more interesting than this. I mean, The Library couldn’t even muster a decent sepia toned sky. And what’s with all the talking animals?”

  “You said you thought they were cute,” I reminded her.

  “Well, they are,” said Lilly. “Just don’t tell them that. It is far easier to praise a creature for its cuteness when it doesn’t talk back. I had one hedgehog-like guy stare at me blankly and say that I was weird.”

  I snorted a laugh.

  “It was embarrassing!” said Lilly, hitting my arm.

  “And as for Darcy,” she continued. “He is a shell of the man he used to be.”

  So that’s where this was going. I sighed and prepared myself for some solid listening.

  “It’s always, ‘my former self’ this, and ‘I have seen eternity’ that,” said Lilly, impersonating Darcy’s husky voice.

  Worried the golem might appear at any moment, I shot Lilly a look.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “He is off ranging, trying to find which pile of ash is the restricted section.”

  “That sounds like Darcy,” I said.

  “And that’s exactly it,” said Lilly. “He sounds like Darcy. He does Darcy-like things. But he isn’t - you know. He just isn’t-”

  And then the tears started to flow.

  “I’m trying,” said Lilly between sobs. “I really am. I am so glad that he isn’t dead, or gone forever, or whatever. But I’m sixteen, for goodness’ sake. I’m not supposed to worry about chipping a tooth every time I hug my boyfriend.”

  “You’re sixteen?” I asked.

  “I think so. I don’t know. I spent a lot of time in the Cheathr Ark before it was overrun by mer-people. I may even be seventeen. But that’s not the point!”

  “I know,” I said.

  “It’s like I have him back, but he isn’t really him anymore. And what am I supposed to do? Dump him? He literally came back from the dead for me. I prayed, you know that? Me. Lilly Bennett actually tried to contact a deity. And now I’m the spoon who is crying ‘cos her prayers were answered. I sometimes wonder whether Darcy would have been happier if Elaine left him in the afterlife.”

  “Have you spoken to Darcy about all this?” I asked.

  Lilly gave me the, ‘no I haven’t asked my boyfriend if he would rather be dead,’ look.

  “Good point.”

  Lilly rallied herself and smiled, tears still wending down her cheek. “I’m fine, really I’m fine. All things considered. It’s just, sometimes-”

  And then the sobs were back, followed by laughter, sniffs, and more sobs. Lilly really was a special sort of human.

  ***

  This time I had only two passengers. An otter mother and her little girl otter. The rest of their group were holding out for the right time-line, but the older otter had found a passage back to the days of her youth, and wanted to raise her daughter there. They had no real connections in their own time anyway, and at least this way they would be going somewhere familiar.

  “Are you ready?” I asked.

  “Yup!” said the otter child, taking my hand.

  The mother looked worried, but placed a hand on my shoulder. I began to read.

  The milkshake bar was quiet for a Saturday night...

  This was my third jump for the day. Gradually, The Library was starting to get less and less populated. There were still well over a thousand refugees, but with more leaving every day, and there being so much more library to occupy, things were not as cramped as they once were.

  I knew something wasn’t right, the instant we landed.

  The little girl screamed.

  “Hold on!” I bellowed as I fumbled with the book. We found ourselves in an open field, but this open field was floating in the sky. We had come to Aeoran’s domain.

  “This isn’t my home,” said the otter mother.

  “I don’t know what went wrong!” I said. “We are going back.”

  Another sky island slammed into this one, knocking us off our feet. Scrambling, I opened the book to the first chapter, and we began our journey back to The Library.

  “What happened?” asked the Librarian as she bounded knuckles to the ground to our location.

  “I don’t know. The book seems fine, but it took me to - it was Aeoran’s domain.”

  “I was afraid of this,” said the Librarian. “It is called a conjoining.”

  “What is that?”

  “It is when worlds start to leave their dimensional orbit, start to form one great mass.”

  “You mean this might be happening to other worlds too?”

  “If I am right, then almost certainly,” said the Librarian.

  “There is only one way to find out,” I said, scrambling for the nearest shelf.

  “Alex, don’t be reckless!” bellowed the Librarian.

  I scarcely heard her as I was already falling into the pages.

  Immediately, I was assaulted by a biting cold. It seemed I had just landed on a frozen mountain side.

  But this frozen mountainside was floating through nothingness.

  What followed was a rapid secession of shattered worlds, all in that terrible place. With each fall, I became more and more desperate. After the tenth, I started to panic.

  The Librarian, who had been unable to stop me, tried to recruit Darcy, but he was on my side. We needed more data.

  “Again?” he asked as I returned from another island.

  I nodded. Then I was struck with a thought that twisted my stomach. “What about my world? Oh no, please tell me it is safe.”

  “The Keeper’s own world is protected by powerful magic,” said the Librarian, repeating a phase she had used many times before.

  “How powerful?” asked Darcy.

  “I have to see,” I said, pulling out Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as fast as my hands could move.

  “I’ll come too,” said Darcy.

  I shook my head. Before he could protest, I was falling into the pages.

  I landed in my bedroom. It looked just as I had left it. How much time had passed since I was last here? It was always difficult to say when it came to The Library. There were instances where time matched up perfectly, one moment here was one moment there. Then there were times when The Library was like a downwind world - no time passing whatsoever.

  I walked silently to the window, almost afraid of what I might see outside. I pushed back the curtains, allowing the warm light of day to pour in.

  No islands.

  No empty darkness.

  Just suburban Torbay.

  In the distance, a dog was barking. A kid peddled passed on his bike, hurrying along on some errand. My home was safe.

  For now.

  Relieved, I reluctantly returned to The Library. Home was too comfortable. If I stayed much longer, I would surely stay forever.

  Darcy was in my face again the moment I got back. “Well?” he demanded.

  “Safe and sound,” I said. This was a good thing, but there was so much more to worry about. “Librarian, what does it mean that all the stories are running together?”

  “It means the end is coming,” said a voice so old it was practically geology.

  I turned to see Mr. O’Connor fumbling his way forward, leaning heavily on a gnarly old staff.

  “It means nothing of the sort,” retorted the Librarian. “It just means we have another sort of challenge on our hands.” Her tone was not at all convincing.

  “We cannot hide from the truth,” said Mr. O’Connor.

  “It is a terrible truth,” I said.

  “It has its upsides,” said Mary. I don’t know how long she had been listening in, but she stepped out from behind an oak tree that had inexplicably sprung up near the center of the oasis. “With all the worlds in one place, we can more easily establish lines of communication.”

  “And you want to take on Aeoran directly?” asked Darcy.

  “Maybe,” said Mary. She limped forward and tossed something to me. I caught it, miracles of miracles. “I have received a transmission”

  “What am I looking at?” I asked.

  “A communication device,” said Mary. “I had a crew once. They got lost in the multiverse before your return and I have not heard from them - until now.”

  “Olek and the others?” asked Darcy.

  “The message comes from Olek himself,” said Mary.

  I tried to read the message, but the writing was foreign to me.

  “He is being kept in a Pagalan prison,” explained Mary. “What would you say to a rescue mission, Keeper? The Pagalans, it seems, have requested a diplomatic audience. Not exactly my strength.”

  I looked to Darcy, who seemed familiar with this person called Olek. “They are a good crew,” said Darcy. “They may not be able to take on Aeoran themselves, but they would certainly be more use to us if they weren’t locked up.”

  “Sounds like an adventure!” said Mr. O’Connor gleefully.

  Mary gave the old wizard a disparaging look. “They may not have much time,” she said after a moment.

  I nodded.

  “Excellent,” said Mr. O’Connor. “Now, has anyone seen my glove?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  We landed among the ruins of a medieval era castle. It took some convincing, but eventually we dissuaded Mr. O’Connor from coming along. It was not that I didn’t think he still had power in him. On the contrary, I was sure he was capable of a great deal. But his memory lapses were getting worse, and none of us wanted anything to happen to our old friend. These days he spent as much time recovering from some illness or other as he did up and about. He listened to James more than the rest of us and only agreed to stay if James went in his place. James, though reluctant to leave his grandfather’s side, obviously preferred going himself to putting Mr. O’Connor at risk.

  So that made our company five. James and I, Lilly and Darcy, and Mary.

  “House Steth,” said Lilly, reading an inscription beneath a stone carved coat of arms. “Dignity and honor,” she continued. “More like decay and ruin, though I doubt that would have been quite such a compelling family motto.”

  “These tapestries are not old,” said Darcy, studying the nearest woven wall hanging. “It seems likely the castle was only recently abandoned.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19